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Category: General Motors

  • GM to consider selling Hummer

    GM to consider selling Hummer

    X08ar_hm011 GM has officially announced it will re-evaluate the future of the Hummer brand. A sale isn’t excluded.

    The Hummer brand is in a difficult situation as large SUVs sales are dropping due to rising gas prices. Even with lower gas prices in the future (if it happens), consumers will keep in mind the current gas prices in the US and won’t be ready to jeopardize their finance to get a large SUV.

    "Our greatest concern is the unprecedented rise in oil prices," said GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, speaking before the automaker’s annual meeting in Delaware and GM  is "undertaking a strategic review of the Hummer brand to determine its fit within the GM portfolio. At this point, the company is considering all options, from a complete revamp of the product lineup to a partial or complete sale of the brand."
    Nothing is certain and it is sure that small models aren’t really suited to large American bums, but when your brand is the symbol of a former gas orgy, let’s say that your life expectancy is shot, especially when the parent company is currently restructuring the business.

  • GM unveils its restructuring plan

    GM unveils its restructuring plan

    Gmrenaissancecenter21 GM has announced its plan to close four factories and maybe lay off 10,000 people in an attempt to restructure its business.

    The American carmaker has decided to go bold to restructure its business as quick as possible and adapt to the growing demands for more fuel efficient vehicles. The carmaker will close four factories by the end of 2010. The concerned facilities are Oshawa, Moraine, Janesville and Toluca.

    Located in Canada,. Oshawa builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. Production will end next year. The plant in Moraine, Ohio builds the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7x and will cease production in 2010. The Janesville facility located in Wisconsin will be closed by 2010. This plant builds the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon. Production of the Chevrolet Kodiak will be ceased in the Toluca factory located in Mexico.

    In the meantime, the carmaker will continue its switch to smaller models by launching a new global compact car and a new more efficient engine range for the American market. The new compact model will be powered by a turbocharged 1.4-litre engine.

  • China first quarter saloon sales figures

    China first quarter saloon sales figures

    Shanghaivolkswagensantanavista20083 Here are the results of saloon sales for the first quarter of 2008 in China.

    As usual the Shanghai VW Santana(pictured) takes the first rank followed by the Buick Excelle. Another VW, the Jetta, ranks third. The first Chinese car ranks fifth with the Tianjin FAW Xiali whiel the small Chery QQ gets the sixth place thanks. Volkswagen also records a tenteh rank for the Passat GP. In total, Volkswagen holds three of the top ten sales. Japanese carmakers have two models, while the American carmakers have only one model.

    1. Shanghai VW – Santana – 69,214
    2. Shanghai GM – Excelle – 62,750
    3. FAW VW – Jetta – 61,202
    4. Guangzhou Toyota – Camry – 54,123
    5. Tianjin FAW Xiali – Xiali – 48,421
    6. Chery – QQ – 46,251
    7. FAW-Haima – Family – 45,352
    8. Guangzhou Honda – Accord – 42,160
    9. Beijing Hyundai – 41,556
    10. Shanghai VW – Passat GP – 36, 865
  • GM buys Detroit headquarters for £313 million

    GM buys Detroit headquarters for £313 million

    Gmrenaissancecenter24 GM has announced it has bought the headquarters it currently rents in Detroit for an amount of £313 million.

    Despite a £1.6 billion loss for the first quarter of this year, GM has given the green light to buy its headquarters, known as Renaissance Center,  for £313 million and two other properties located in Pontiac, Michigan for £100 million.

    Built by Ford during the 70’s, the Renaissance Center was leased by GM in 1996 which spent around £250 million to renovate and improve it. The lease was ending on the 1st May which decided the carmaker to buy the building.

  • GM might switch to unibody for its large SUVs

    GM might switch to unibody for its large SUVs

    X08ct_ta026 GM might base its future large SUV models on a car-like platform replacing the traditional body-on-frame chassis.

    Under market pressure, GM might make its biggest revolution in the last ten years: switching from body-on-frame to unibody chassis for its large SUV models such as Chevrolet Tahoe or Cadillac Escalade. Body-on-frame chassis is heavier than an unibody chassis and penalise fuel efficiency. However the latter can’t tow as much as the former. Another problem with unibody chassis is that it’s more difficult to share components between models.

    The concerned SUVs will likely be the Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade family which are based on the Chevrolet Silverado platform. If the Silverado justifies its body-on-frame chassis by being destined to heavy duties, the Tahoe-like models are destined for families. The next-generation is expected to be unveiled in 2012.

  • 20,000 people on Volt’s waiting list

    20,000 people on Volt’s waiting list

    Chevrolet_volt_1 Despite an unknown sales price, over 20,000 people have expressed interest in buying the future Chevrolet Volt.

    This is good news for GM and confirms the appeal generated by electric cars for American consumers. However, this interest in buying the Volt might also become the company’s biggest nightmare as GM has already announced it will only build around 10,000 vehicles the first year. The carmaker is rumoured to favourise "smile states" such as California, New York, Washington D.C. and Florida to sell the future model.

    Due to be unveiled in November 2010, the Chevrolet Volt will be the first plug-in hybrid in the world.

  • Is GM working on a cheap Chevrolet Spark?

    Is GM working on a cheap Chevrolet Spark?

    252719 According to rumours, GM is currently working on a low budget Chevrolet Spark, set to compete with the future Nano, which would cost £1,400 and would be built in China.

    If the rumour is true, GM would be the third carmaker after Tata, Hyundai and Renault to jump into the very low budget market segment. However, the path seems to be fraught with pitfalls. The Chevrolet Spark is currently sold at around £2,900 in China and GM has asked its engineers to divide the price tag by two. Cutting production cost would be the major way of achieving the target.

    Ten years ago, carmaker had rushed into the new Chinese and Indian markets, but first sales results were rather disappointing due to lower income than expected. Ten days later, both countries are richer and carmakers made progress in developing low cost cars. The question is not when will they drive, but what will they drive?

  • GM forms joint venture in Uzbekistan

    GM forms joint venture in Uzbekistan

    Gmsgmcn_04 GM has set up a joint venture to build Chevrolet cars and sport utility vehicles in Uzbekistan.

    GM has set up the joint venture with the state company UzAvtoSanoat which already builds 170,000 Chevrolet models per year built from kits that come from South Korea. The new entity will produce Chevrolet models such as Captiva and Epica at a pace of 250,000 vehicles per year. Gm will hold a stake of 25% + 1 share with an option to increase its share in the future.  GM will help the Uzbek company to increase its quality build and its manufacturing equipment.

    UzAvtoSanoat initially produced former Daewoo models such as Tico and Matiz. Indeed the carmaker had set up a venture with Daewoo before its collapse. Wen the Korean carmaker went into trouble, the Uzbek carmaker continued building the cars.

  • BMW in talks with GM and Fiat to share engines

    BMW in talks with GM and Fiat to share engines

    Mini_engine BMW has entered into talks with Fiat and GM to provide them engines and transmissions according to Automotive News.

    The rumour doesn’t come as a surprise as the carmaker has set a plan to increase its profitability. Job cuts and pressuring suppliers have already been announced. Sharing costs is another path the company is ready to take.

    The carmaker has a joint venture with Peugeot-Citroen which manufactures small engines featured in the Mini models and in the Peugeot 207 and 308 models. The German carmaker wants to share more engines even it means to collaborate with its German enemy, Mercedes. Indeed, the company has also entered into talks with Mercedes to share the platform of the next-generation Mini with the A-class and B-class models. The talks are still being carried despite the Fiat and GM talks.

    BMW is getting serious about sharing its technology with other carmakers. However, the intention only concerns the small engines. BMW has no plan to share its bigger engines such as the inline 6 or V8 units, which are the company’s real asset.

  • Daewoo opens a new factory to build gearboxes

    Daewoo opens a new factory to build gearboxes

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    Daewoo has opened a new facility to build automatic gearboxes at a large scale: 550,000 gearboxes per year. The factory is located in Boryeong, South Korea.

    The new factory will build 250,000 four-speed automatic transmission but the most interesting bit are the 300,000 six-speed automatic gearboxes expected to be built every year. The six-speed gearbox was featured for the first time on the new Tosca Premium 6 model last month

    The company expect to double the six-speed transmission by 2010.